Trasgo-1 is located in the municipality of San Martin de los Llanos in the Meta Province, south of Cano Cumaral.

Drilling of the well started on August 4 of this year, and reached a depth of 2,934 feet. Ecopetrol obtained nuclei of rock from the basal sands of the Carbonera Formation, which was the well's principal exploratory objective, with good crude oil saturation.

Subsequently, initial production testing was done at intervals of four feet (from 2,771 to 2,775 feet), with an artificial lift progressing cavity system, which put out an average production of 120 barrels of fluids per day of 13.8 degrees API crude oil (heavy crude).

As the Trasgo-1 well is 130 kilometers away from the municipality of San Martin, its drilling posed a major challenge regarding mobilization of machinery and equipment. People living in surrounding communities such as Puerto Castro, Santa Teresa, Bajo Camoa and El Carmen benefited from the construction works undertaken by Ecopetrol.

Trasgo-1 is the fifth oil finding in the Cano Sur Block during 2011, including Mito-1, Fauno-1, Pinocho-1 and CSE8-ST1, and constitutes another major milestone in the exploration of the Cano Sur contract, which was signed in June of 2005 with the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH – Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos) in which Ecopetrol is the operator and holds 100% of the rights.

"This new find proves the potential of the Cano Sur Block and of the Llanos Orientales Basin, one of the regions with the highest exploratory activity currently, source of our growth in heavy crude oils and key to achieve the production goal of one million clean barrels per day in 2015 and 1.3 million barrels in 2020", said Ecopetrol's CEO Javier Gutierrez.

Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and a firm integrated into the petroleum chain, ranked among the 40 largest petroleum companies in the world, and one of the four principal petroleum companies in Latin America. In addition to Colombia, where it generates more than 60% of domestic production, it has a presence in exploration and production activities in Brazil, Peru and the United States (Gulf of Mexico). Ecopetrol is the owner of the two largest refineries in Colombia, the largest part of the network of oil pipelines and multi-use pipelines in the country, and it is significantly increasing its participation in biofuels.

This press release contains statements concerning business prospects, estimates of operating and financial results, and assertions concerning Ecopetrol's prospects for growth. These are all projections, and as such, they are based solely on the expectations of management with respect to the future of the company and its continuing access to capital to finance the company's business plan. The fulfillment of such estimates in the future depends on the behavior of the market, regulations, competition, and the performance of the Colombian economy and industry, among other factors; therefore, these projections are subject to change without prior notice.